


you make my dreams - hall & oats

by adorkabealekendrick



Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: 1980's, 80's, 80s AU, 80s high school, Alternate Universe - High School, Chloe Beale - Freeform, F/F, High School, Humor, Romance, Teen Romance, beca mitchell - Freeform, bechloe - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-03
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:47:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23455021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adorkabealekendrick/pseuds/adorkabealekendrick
Summary: Sophomore year of high school, 1986. Beca has been entirely used to her daily routine of sticking to her best friend Stacie's side for the past 16 years of her life. However, when Stacie wants to try out for cheerleading and someone other than Stacie speaks to her, there's a whole lot of change in store for the short musician. That's CHANGE, spelt C-H-A-N-G-E, pronounced 'Chloe'.
Relationships: Chloe Beale & Beca Mitchell, Chloe Beale/Beca Mitchell
Comments: 17
Kudos: 60





	1. Chapter 1

** you make my dreams – hall & oats  **

**Chapter 1**

“It’s just through there, sugar baby.”

Beca giggled, watching as her childhood best friend cycled over with a little Labrador in his bicycle basket. “That is a really stupid nickname, you know?”

Mr Snuffles winked “What, and Mr Snuffles isn’t? I’ll have you know I was christened Theodore Bear.”

“Theodore Bear!” Beca threw her head back this time, letting out a loud cackle and looking up at the Simpsons-style fluffy white mounds in the sky. “You’re an idiot, Mr Bear.”

“And you, my child, are going to be late for school.”

“Huh? Late for school?”

“Beca.”

“Wait, I just need to- “

“Wake up, Beca.”

“But- “

“Beca!”

Suddenly squinting at the bright light beaming over her face, Beca sat up, face scrunched and hand immediately reaching up to shield her eyes. Once she’d gotten a hold of her bearings, her vision adjusted to find her father’s stern teacher glare staring back at her. Beca groaned, throwing her head back onto her pillow and shutting her eyes, cheeks flushed in embarrassment as she remembered her dream.

She better not have been sleep talking again.

“Beca, get up. I’m not going to tell you again.” Ben clenched his jaw.

Beca groaned louder, pulling her duvet over her head. “Go away.”

“Rebecca!” Ben snapped, making Beca flinch and whine. “It’s already seven o’clock. In case you haven’t noticed, summer is over and-“

“Wait, seven o’clock!?” She jumped up, knocking her Walkman over onto the hardwood floor. She winced, quickly picking it up and stumbling out of bed. “Dad, why didn’t you wake me earlier??”

“Excuse me, young lady, you didn’t set your alarm clock. _Again_. We wouldn’t have this problem if you would just do as I say-“

“Don’t have a cow.” Beca glared. “Fuck me, I’m gonna be late.”

“Language, Beca. We’re leaving in twenty minutes.”

“What do you mean _we_ …” Beca whined. As if her morning could get any worse. “I have a car now.”

“Our agreement was that you can only drive to school when you’re organised enough. This is not organisation.” Ben stated pointedly, huffing out a small chuckle as he watches Beca take a moment to pick out an outfit before rushing past him to get to her bathroom.

Instead of replying, Beca merely rolled her eyes as she grabbed her towel. This was going to be so embarrassing – sophomore year and she’ll be the only kid having her dad still driving her to school. This was not how this morning was supposed to go. She can’t even stop off for coffee now. Looking in the mirror, Beca sent her silent prayer of thanks to the man upstairs for her natural hair. It could just about pass this morning – curly enough to look good. It was no perm, but it would do. She brushed her teeth at lightning speed so that she had enough time to do her eyeliner, doing her best to make it just bold enough to pass as _bold_ but not enough to get in trouble for it. She wasn’t looking to get as many detentions as last year, especially not on the first day of school. Taking a moment to glare at her reflection, Beca groaned at the thought of having to go back to school. This summer had been great, all she really did was learn a bunch of songs and practise her music (yes, practising included adding to her vast collection of vinyls, productivity at its finest). She did not want to go back to being stuck inside a classroom, using up all her energy glaring at the jocks and avoiding participation in gym class. She could be doing so much more with her time; it was aggravating as hell to have to come home every day and spend her evening doing homework instead of working on her music or at least watching TV. But whatever. This year would be different. Less classes meant less homework, right? It wouldn’t be as ridiculous as freshman year was. She was interrupted from her moping by her dad’s voice.

“Beca? Cereal or toast!?”

“Car!” she yelled back.

“What?”

“Car!”

“What do you mean ‘car’!?”

“I mean I’m eating in the car!”

“Cereal it is!”

Beca growled, leaving her makeup strewn on the counter and rushing to get changed. Her dad was so annoying. Well, he wasn’t that bad _most_ of the time, but when he was acting like her personal alarm clock and planner? He was annoying. Sickening, even. If she spilt milk over her shirt she would _not_ hesitate to turn the car around and skip school for today.

In between her dad’s ever so careful driving and trying not to spill her cereal on her denim jacket or her jeans, making it to school and having ten minutes to spare before class was a miracle. Beca rushed to the school office and got her locker combination and timetable for the year. She was just on her way to stuff her belongings away when she bumped into a familiar face.

“Beca!” Stacie gasped, rushing up to her best friend with a wide grin.

Beca allowed herself a lopsided grin as she opens her arms wide. “Stace.” Stacie was her best friend; they’d known each other since the womb and she was the only person Beca ever allowed a hug from. They’d only seen each other last week but embraced as if it had been years.

“Bec. Guess what.”

“You’re finally pregnant!” Beca said genuinely, not being able to keep a straight face as she laughed at the insulted look Stacie gave her.

“Fuck you, Mitchell.” Stacie scoffed. “You’re way off.”

“What is it?”

“I’m gonna try out for Barden cheer!” Stacie exclaimed excitedly, clapping her hands.

Beca nearly dropped her guitar in shock. “You what?”

“Barden cheer. As in, cheerleading.”

“Yeah, I know what-what cheerleading is, Stacie,” Beca mumbled, blinking in confusion up at her. “I just-I just don’t understand why you would want to skip around in a tiny little skirt and shake your pompoms and throw your legs up in the air and scream whenever a guy jogs a little. It’s-it’s like cheering on a fish for swimming.”

The shorter brunette sighed as she watched Stacie’s face drop at her discouragement. She didn’t mean to lay it all on her like that. Beca softened her tone. “I just don’t want you being labelled as a dumb cheerleader guys can fuck whenever they want.”

“That’s sweet, Bec, but I don’t think that’s gonna be a problem.” Stacie half-shrugged.

Beca chuckled. It was true, everyone knew Stacie was headed for Harvard or Yale. “Yeah, I guess. I never pegged you for someone who would wanna be a cheerleader. But I’ll come sit and watch try-outs. Just don’t fuck up and embarrass us.”

Stacie grinned, happy that she was getting the Mitchell stamp of approval. “I don’t think that’ll be a problem either. I’m a better dancer and gymnast than half the girls already on the squad. And the best people left last year. They definitely need me more than I need them.”

“You don’t need them at all, dude.” Beca told her. “It’s still only sophomore year and you’ve got enough extra-curriculars to skip college and go straight to a PhD.”

“Yeah, it’s just for fun. What’re you thinking of doing this year for extras?”

Beca shrugged, turning to open her locker and stuff her guitar inside just as the bell rang. “Band, I guess.”

“Bec, you should do glee club.”

“You say this every year and every year I say bite me.” Beca rolled her eyes. “The day you see me snapping my fingers in glee club with Aubrey fucking Posen will be the day I burn my vinyls.”

“Just normal choir, then! Bec you’re amazing. Please…” Stacie pouted.

“No!” Beca glared at her seriously. “Drop it, Stace. Let’s just go to homeroom.”

It was Stacie’s turn to roll her eyes as she pushed Beca’s locker shut and threw an arm around her shoulder to lead her to their new homeroom, knowing full well Beca wouldn’t bother check her timetable to see where they’ll be. Having not checked any of her teachers yet, Beca’s eyebrows rose and she smirked in silent appreciation as she laid eyes upon their homeroom teacher for this year.

“Keep it in your pants, Mitchell.” Stacie muttered to her, snickering quietly at the girl’s obviousness.

It wasn’t a secret that Beca liked girls. Well, it wasn’t a secret to Stacie – Beca wasn’t about to tell the whole school. Beca just turned and grinned at her best friend. “This’ll be a fun year.”

Stacie merely chuckled and scoffed, pushing her friend further into the room. Their teacher was fairly young, probably in her mid-twenties, and wore a tightfitting green turtleneck, high-waisted black slacks with heeled boots. She was new for sure, with long curly dark hair, a chocolate complexion and bright eyes. In other words, she was gorgeous, and her being new meant that Beca would be able to get away with a lot more than she got away with last year. As Beca and Stacie chose a random pair of seats, Beca cast her eyes up at the blackboard. The teacher’s name was Miss Berry. Once the room was full, Miss Berry walked round her desk an cleared her throat.

“Hey everyone, my name is Miss Berry, I’ve just moved here from California and one interesting fact about me is that I love pizza. That pretty much covers it, right?”

Th class had the decency to chuckle at her fairly lame joke. Beca smirked. She was introducing herself as if she was a transfer student.

“Let’s do the roll call then we can have a quick chat before first period.” Miss Berry chuckled. “Rebecca Mitchell?”

The class sniggered. Instead of rolling her eyes as she usually would, Beca just smiled politely at their teacher. “Beca’s fine.”

“Beca, okay, let me try that one more time.” Miss Berry chuckled, scribbling down the amendment to her piece of paper. She cleared her throat. “Beca Mitchell?”

“Here, Miss.”

Apart from having a cool teacher, the rest of homeroom was pretty boring, just admin about what to expect from the first week of school and a very clear attempt from Miss Berry to appear more like a friend than a teacher to them. She wanted her class to know that if they ever need to, they can talk to her and she won’t rat them out or gossip about their business unless it was essential to tell the school counsellor. In all honesty, she was pretty nice and apart from Stacie, Beca didn’t really trust any other kid enough to talk to them. If there was anything, speaking to Miss Berry didn’t sound like a terrible idea. Miss Berry gave them ten minutes before the end of homeroom to talk amongst themselves as she walked around and tried to learn a little more about the kids. When she got to Beca, she sat at the edge of her desk.

“Sorry about the name thing earlier. Your last homeroom teacher didn’t brief me on the nickname.”

“Not surprising, he hated my guts.” Beca rolled her eyes.

“I’m told that your best subjects are Music and English. That’s pretty cool, Beca,”

Smiling at the teacher, Beca nodded. “Yeah.”

“I’m an English teacher.”

“So’s my dad.”

“Is that why you’re good at it?” Miss Berry smirked.

“Pretty much.” Beca shrugged, forcing out a little chuckle.

Miss Berry laughed. “Well, if you like reading I could recommend you a few books that haven’t been father approved before.”

“Sure,” Beca grinned. “Thanks.”

“On one condition. You do your best to get to school on time more often this year.” Miss Berry looked pointedly at her.

Stacie snorted, and Beca leant over and flicked her arm. “Shut up, Stace.” Beca turned back to their teacher and nodded. “I’ll try my best, Miss.”

“Great. See you later,”

Waiting until after Miss Berry walked past, Beca rolled her eyes drastically at her best friend. Stacie chose to ignore her, instead changing the subject to the latest music video premiered on MTV last week. The time flew by and even Stacie couldn’t help but groan as the bell sounded for the next period. First class of the year was always a bore-fest. On her way out, Beca was stopped by their teacher.

“I’m sorry to have to bring this up Beca.” Miss Berry said, her tone entirely different from the light jokey way she was speaking earlier.

Beca looked questionably at her, but her chest already had that awful sinking feeling she got whenever she knew she was about to be pitied.

“I just-you know earlier when I said you could talk to me about stuff if you want. Don’t forget that, okay? The principal and counsellor told me about your mother. I know speaking to the same pushy adults about your personal life isn’t great, so I’m another alternative if you ever do want to talk, okay? You don’t even have to talk we can just…we can just sit and listen to music or sit in silence. Anything works for me.” Miss Berry was clearly nervous as she wrung her hands together, smiling warmly.

For the first time, the pity wasn’t _evident_. It was there, sure, but it wasn’t overwhelming. It wasn’t exactly a reminder she welcomed right before class, but Beca was more grateful for the intrusion this time than annoyed. Her mother’s death was only just over a year ago, the summer before freshman year. Beca did her absolute best to hide the grief from everyone, she only ever really let Stacie witness it, so she wasn’t about to sit and sob to her teacher. It was difficult, though, so Miss Berry’s offer was pretty sweet.

“Thanks, Miss.” Beca managed a small smile. “I’m not about to schedule weekly therapy sessions, but thanks.”

Her joke made Miss Berry chuckle and clearly less stiff. “I don’t expect you to, Beca. Sorry to have to bring this up right before class.”

“Don’t worry about it, Miss B. See you later.” Beca smiled, waving goodbye.

She walked out to find Stacie waiting for her.

“Hey, what was that about?” Stacie asked, peering back inside the room to see Mis Berry taking a deep breath.

Beca shrugged her off. “Just my mom.”

“Got it. Ready for class?”

“What do we have first?”

“Math.”

“Bite me!” Beca groaned, making her best friend laugh.

“Let’s go, shorty.”

The first day back wasn’t as bad as Beca thought it would be, to be honest. She only had half her classes because of an assembly after lunch – which also meant she missed gym, so that was definitely a bonus. Everybody was definitely still in holiday mode, so she wasn’t really approached by anyone. It wasn’t long before she was standing on the outskirts of the track and field, talking to Stacie before her cheer try-out.

“Remember sweetheart, you’re the money-maker here. Book one gig and it starts up your college fund. Book three and you don’t even need to _go_ to college.” Beca told her, the classic mischievous Mitchell glint appearing in her eye as it always did whenever she was fucking around.

“Shut up, Beca,” Stacie chuckled.

“My little girl’s gonna be the star of the cheer squad!” Beca cried loudly and proudly, throwing her arms up into the air and attracting attention from the other girls standing around them.

Stacie laughed and shoved her away. “Stop being a stage mom and sit on the bleachers.”

“Bring in the big bucks, baby.” Beca called behind her as she started to walk off.

An unfamiliar giggle made her pause in her tracks. That definitely wasn’t Stacie. Beca slowly pivoted until she was face to face with the brightest, bluest eyes she had ever seem. She blinked, dumbfounded, for a moment, staring at the eyes.

“You’re really funny.”

 _Have mercy_ , Beca thought. The voice was melodic and soft, like heaven. Beca blinked again until she could focus on the girl rather than just her eyes. Beca’s eyes flickered to her hair, noticing it was a lovely shade of red and cascaded in gentle waves, cupping her lightly freckled face and rosy cheeks. Beca bit her lip briefly, forcing herself not to stare for much longer lest she scare the redhead off.

“Thanks.” Beca said breathily. “You’re-um-you’re really pre-“

“Chloe!”

The redhead whipped round in response to her name being called, and Beca looked too to find it was Posen who had screamed it. Beca inwardly groaned. Of _course_ this girl – Chloe – was friends with Posen. Of course.

“Gotta go!” Chloe said brightly, running off to the stern-faced blonde standing on the track.

On second thought, thank fuck for Aubrey Posen. Beca had only just realised what she was about to say. Calling a girl pretty when she hadn’t even met her was _crazy._ Maybe she should’ve worked harder at interacting with more than two people this past summer. Beca shook her head slightly to snap herself out of her stupor. With a small sigh, Beca started climbing up the bleachers to watch the try-outs. Yes, Chloe was pretty. But she needed to get a grip. 


	2. Chapter 2

“I mean, did you _see_ the freshman I was paired with? Daisy??”

Beca snorted as she recalled what Daisy has done. “She couldn’t tell left from right.”

“Or up from down!” Stacie cackled, throwing her head back for a moment before quickly remembering that she was driving. “I think even if I completely fucked it up Aubrey would have to let me on the squad.”

“Yeah, dude, for sure. Daisy wasn’t even in time. _I_ could’ve done better than her.”

“Yeah, you and your three left feet.” Stacie smirked, her mouth widening to a grin at Beca’s indignant gasp.

“Take that back, Conrad.”

“Why should I?”

“Because you _know_ I can dance.”

“I know you _quit_ dance every other week for three years. I was there.” Stacie scoffed.

Beca narrowed her eyes at her friend. “if you weren’t driving right now I would punch you.”

Stacie shrugged and raised a single brow. “Face it, Bec. You were cute and all but there was a reason you were always a reserve for dance comps.”

Beca rolled her eyes. “I’m good at dance, thank you very much. Better than… _Dumpy Daisy_.”

Barking out a laugh at that, Stacie turned into the diner parking lot. “You’re such a dick!”

“It’s all part of my charm, Stace.” Beca mumbled, looking out the window with a frown at their beloved diner. There were new cars parked in the owners’ spaces, and a guy was sitting on the concrete hammering at what looked like a sign. “What the fuck?”

Stacie smoothly turned into a space before shutting off the engine of her jeep. She whipped off her sunglasses and gasped at the sight before her. “Are they changing the diner?”

“They _can’t._ ” Beca said immediately, shaking her head and ripping her seatbelt off. This diner meant a lot to her sentimentally – it had been her mother’s favourite place. Not only that, but Stacie and herself went to the diner nearly every day and wasted their hard-earned allowances on fries and milkshakes (burgers on a Friday). It had been a tradition since they were old enough to walk home from school by themselves. There was no way they were changing that until after senior year when they had no choice.

“They won’t.” Stacie reassured her, not that she had the knowledge to reassure. “It’s probably just a new sign to replace the old one. Let’s go.”

Beca let out a deep sigh before hopping out of her best friend’s car, grabbing her backpack and walking towards the entrance with Stacie hot on her heels. Sticking to routine, Beca opened the door for the taller brunette and bowed slightly. “After you, milady.”

Stacie curtseyed “Why thank you!”

Following Stacie in as she sat at their usual booth, Beca glanced around the diner to see who else was around. Her eyes flitted over a flash of red as she walked over to their booth, but Beca stopped abruptly and whipped her head back round to the breakfast bar. Standing there behind the counter placing chicken and waffles in front of someone was the redhead Beca had met earlier. She now donned a blue waitress dress and white apron and was gratefully accepting a tip.

“Bec? What are you-“

Stacie’s voice sounded miles away the longer Beca stared. It was pretty rude of her to stare but she just couldn’t help herself. It wasn’t even as if she was thinking – her mind was completely blank. It felt as if she was in a trance. The redhead was just so… _gorgeous._ Like, unbelievably gorgeous. Not to mention the sun through the window was just beginning to set in the early evening, setting a soft golden haze onto the diner and adorning the redhead – god what was her name again? – in a glow perfectly complimenting her features up until the point where she appeared almost goddess-like. _God._

It took a hard flick from Stacie and a simultaneous glance from the redhead for Beca to walk further forward, smashing her thigh into the edge of their table and snapping her out of her trance with a loud exclamation “Ow!”

Beca’s whole being keened, leaning on their table with a pained expression as her hand flew to her thigh. She could already feel a harsh bruise beginning to form and cringed at the giggle she heard from the redhead’s direction. Beca clenched her jaw and slowly made her way around the booth to sit down, glaring coldly at Stacie’s chin. She’d glare right into her soul if she could, but her head was thrown back in loud laughter.

“Shut up.” Beca gritted at her.

Stacie couldn’t even form a sentence in reply without breaking out into laughter again. Out of the corner of her eye Beca could see the redheaded girl walking over, and she stamped on Stacie’s foot. In between her heavy combat boots and Stacie’s sneakers, Stacie definitely felt it.

“Ow! _Beca_!”

“Are you okay?” The redhead asked, clearly trying her best to keep a straight face yet failing miserably as she bit her cheeks.

“Laugh it up, red.” Beca muttered darkly. “I’m fine.”

“You don’t want an ice pack or anything?” The redhead confirmed, allowing herself to giggle slightly at Beca’s sarcasm.

Beca shook her head, sheer force of will keeping her cheeks from reddening. The last thing she needed was to look like a blushing mess in front of red. “I’m fine, thanks.”

“Can I get you anything else? Fries or something? Ice-ice cream??”

Stacie let out another bubbly giggle at that, it sounded as if the redhead hadn’t meant to intend the pun but both she and the leggy brunette found it hilarious.

“Do you bully all of your customers…” Beca narrowed her eyes at the girl, flicking her eyes down to the pin on her apron with her name on it. “Chloe?”

“Only the cute and clumsy ones,” Chloe winked easily at her.

Beca clenched her jaw. She couldn’t see herself, but she knew her whole face had turned crimson at that comment. “R-Right.” 

Stacie raised her brows at that and smiled. “Smooth.”

Chloe waggled her own brows unnecessarily, taking out her notepad. “I assume you guys didn’t come in here just to give each other bruises.”

“We come in here every day,” Stacie chuckled. “We always ask for the usual, but, you know, you’re new so-“ she suddenly cocked her head and frowned. “Were you at try-outs today?”

Chloe sent her a beaming smile. “Get out! You remembered!!”

“Course, you were really good,” Stacie nodded. “You’ll definitely get on the team.”

“I hope so. I was on it last year in my old school. Our family just moved here. Also, my cousin Aubrey’s the captain so you know…it’ll be a really big insult if she doesn’t let me on the team, like, duh…but anyways! You’ll get on the team. I’ll even put in a good word for you. Stacie, right?”

“Bitchin’,” Stacie replied enthusiastically. “Yeah, Stacie, and the grumpy tomato’s Beca.”

“Gag me with a spoon, Stacie.” Beca glared at her.

Chloe giggled. “I can bring a spoon out if you want.”

“Just fries and a vanilla milkshake will be a good enough alternative,” Beca sighed, holding her head in her hands.

“I’ll have a strawberry milkshake and fries too, please,” Stacie smiled, pushing the menus already on the table to the side.

“Coming right up!” Chloe winked.

Beca kept her head down as Stacie pulled out a notebook and wrote something down.

_Relax._

Beca peeped at the word and glared up at her best friend. “Dude.”

“What?”

“I can’t.”

“Let’s talk about something else.” Stacie suggested. “Have you seen the trailer for Ferris Bueller’s Day Off yet?”

Beca brightened up. “That girl from your magazine is in it, right?”

Stacie laughed. “The one you would totally bone, yeah,”

“Dude you know I’m not big on movies but this one actually looks _good_.”

\---

“You can stop pretending you don’t wanna get in Chloe’s pants now.” Stacie smirked as she shut Beca’s bedroom door and dumped her backpack on the floor, dropping into Beca’s desk chair.

Beca groaned, falling onto her bed. “Was it that obvious?”

“You drooled over her for like two minutes, smashed your leg into a table and couldn’t even reply to her properly when she sort of jokingly flirted with you. Which was like, _whoa_ , by the way. No girls ever jokingly flirt with _me._ ”

“You’re not a lesbian, Stace.”

“But I am hot.”

“You’re not a lesbian and I _highly_ doubt she is. She was just kidding around. And I was sitting there blushing. _Christ!_ If stuff like this keeps happening, I’m gonna out myself to the whole school.”

“Okay, we don’t want that.” Stacie said. “But Bec, don’t have a cow. Just be grateful she seems to like us, you two will probably become friends really quickly.”

“The second I talk to her in school Aubrey will be breathing down my neck for sure.” Beca huffed. “I don’t even know what grade she’s in. Or her last name.”

Stacie shrugged nonchalantly. “So what? You don’t need to know her life story to get into her pants.”

Beca chuckled at that. “I’m not you, Stace. Besides…you know what girls are like around here…c’mon Beca let’s experiment, and oh my god that was _so_ fun but you know what I’m _totally_ straight because dykes are gross!”

Sighing, Stacie rolled over to Beca on her desk chair. “Hey. That’s not what everyone’s like. Layla used you when you were _super_ vulnerable. We don’t even know Chloe yet but I don’t think she’s do that. She seems really cool.”

“Cool enough to be Posen’s fucking cousin. She’s probably just another dictator once you get to know her.” Beca huffed. She ruffled up her hair a bit. “I’m just-it’s the first day of school still. Last year was fucking shit, I’m not gonna focus on girls or whatever this year. I’m just gonna do music and-and not fail sophomore year. Or get enough lates for my dad to be contacted by social services again.”

Stacie laughed loudly. “Please do the late thing again, that was hilarious!”

Beca shook her head, but she was chuckling too. “Dude, he literally got questioned about how good of a father he is.”

“It was the talk of the school,”

“And the talk of the house I was grounded in for a _month_.”

“Girls!”

Beca and Stacie’s eyes met before they erupted into another fit of laughter. Speak of the devil.

“Yeah?” Beca shouted back.

“Do you two want to cook tonight or am I ordering pizza?”

Beca rolled her eyes. “Dad is that even a question??”

The next morning, Beca made sure to get up as early as she could. It was strictly to be given the all clear from her dad to drive to school, though. For her birthday in August her grandparents chipped in to buy her a _1977 red Chevrolet,_ and to be honest Beca still couldn’t believe that the car was actually hers. It was perfect. Everyone around town mostly drove four by fours, because the snow could get pretty bad sometimes and it was better to be safe than sorry. But Beca had been dreaming about this car for the past nine years. She knew nothing about taking care of cars…nothing whatsoever, but after writing music, driving around in that car was her favourite thing to do in the world. The furthest she’s driven away so far has been four hours. Her and Stacie weren’t going anywhere at all, they didn’t even stop. But driving to nowhere and listening to music, eating snacks with her best friend was pretty much one of the best afternoons of Beca’s life.

Not that she would ever admit that to Stacie, of course.

Because she wouldn’t.

Ever.

Convincing herself of putting effort into getting ready just to show her dad how organised she was wasn’t an easy feat. Far from it, actually. Curling her hair, digging out a lip gloss and her best earrings all to show organisation was a _little_ bit of a stretch, even for her. So was making sure her eye makeup was perfect and picking out an outfit from the night before. She packed her bag the night before too, _and_ her gym bag, so it wasn’t as if she wasn’t organised. Cause she was. Organised enough to drive her own car to school, and definitely organised enough to look good on the one day that nobody else really bothers because the first day of school was yesterday so if anything she should look better than most of the other girls at school so maybe she’d have a chance of standing out for a change and catching people’s attention. That kind of organised.

Her dad looked super impressed as she smirked at him on her way out of the house, grabbing her keys from the pot on the mantelpiece and dumping an apple in her jacket pocket.

Today was gonna be different, Beca thought as she reared up the engine and put on her sunglasses. Today she was gonna walk right in, say hi to Stacie and sign up for her music extra-curriculars. She was gonna put her gym bag in her locker and pack her bag full of the textbooks she’ll need for class. She was gonna be right on time for homeroom and impress Miss Berry. She was gonna be her usual, charming, sarcastic self. She would _not_ make a fool of herself. She would _not_ bash her leg into a table, or not know what classes she had, or do another one of her stupid bits that always attracted the attention of pretty much everyone around them but never attracted any actual laughs. And if she sees a smidge, a slight flurry of red locks or huge baby blue eyes, she’ll simply walk on by. That’s it. She’ll walk past, like she didn’t see anything at all and like her memory is not dissimilar to that of a goldfish and it was virtually impossible for her to remember any new girl from yesterday who she didn’t even know the last name of. If they meet eyes, she’ll smile politely and walk off in the opposite direction. And if that aca-nazi _Posen_ is with her she’ll sneer. It’ll be easy; she was doing it right now, sneering at the red traffic light she was waiting for. Hell, she could sneer at the whole street. There was a lady walking her dog on the street – _sneer_. There was a couple of men fixing a mailbox – _sneer._ There was a clearly struggling parent and four kids on their way to preschool – _sneer_. There was a beautiful redhead in the car next to her who was staring in amusement and giggling and-

Fuck. She forgot to sneer.

This was gonna be harder than she thought.


	3. Chapter 3

Chloe waved through her window as she rolled it down. “Nice car!”

“Yeah, you-you too!”

“Bet yours is best in snow!” She called sarcastically, honking lightly and winking, making Beca laugh and blush further.

“Haven’t tried it yet!”

Chloe glanced up at the traffic lights and saw it had turned amber. “See you at school!”

She drove off quickly, giggling at her rear-view mirror, which displayed a shocked and flushed brunette fumbling to change gears and drive off after her. They kept stealing glances as they drove, making faces at each other.

“Oh my god,” Chloe laughed to herself as Beca cranked up her cassette player. You make my dreams by Hall and Oates was playing, and as they were waiting for the next traffic light, Beca pointed to Chloe and began to mouth along, but when Chloe broke out into singing the backing oohs, Beca laughed and followed her lead.

As Beca sang, for once she didn’t feel as though she was making a fool of herself. In fact, she didn’t feel anything remotely similar to regret or embarrassment, only a genuine warmth she hadn’t felt in its entirety with anyone other than Stacie in a very long time. It was crazy to think that she and Chloe had only met yesterday, and only spoken twice – driving to school alongside her, laughing and singing across lanes was something as unique as it was electrifying. So _what_ if she had the smallest, tiniest most miniscule crush on Chloe? It would probably go away when they became friends. It was nothing to even think about or act upon. She should just let herself enjoy having more than one friend for once. No sneering necessary.

They reached the school and drove off to their respective parking spaces. As Beca parked, she made a mental note to find out where Chloe’s locker or homeroom was, or what classes she took this year, so she didn’t have to spend every day watching Stacie at her cheer practices just to find a way to talk to the redhead. On the other side of the carpark, Chloe was beaming as she parked, now in the best mood for her first full day of school. As she got out her car, she spotted Aubrey standing against the wall and reading, clearly waiting for her.

“Hey, Bree!”

Aubrey glanced up and put her book back in her bag. “Good morning, Chloe,”

“What’s up?”

“I figured you’d probably forget where your locker was so I came in early…on the one day I don’t have an extra-curricular before homeroom, so be very grateful,” Aubrey said half-seriously, giving her cousin a side hug before beginning to lead them inside the closest entrance.

Chloe giggled. “I am very grateful, Bree. I actually had such a great ride to school. I thought I’d totally forget the way but then I ended up driving next to Beca and we drove side by side the whole time-“

“Beca Mitchell?” Aubrey asked sharply.

Slightly taken aback by the blonde’s harsh interruption, Chloe’s eyes widened. “I can’t remember her last name-“

“Is she short with dark hair and too much eye makeup? And she wears all these dark colours like she’s constantly at a funeral, and always glaring at the sun?? She looks like a female Dracula.”

Chloe pouted a little. “I…I guess, but Bree isn’t that a little mean to say? She’s been really friendly with me, I met her and Stacie yesterday at try-outs, and they came to the diner and she was really-“

“Annoying?”

“Cute, Aubrey. She was really cute.”

Rolling her eyes and huffing out a humourless chuckle, Aubrey led them down a flight of stairs. “Chlo, I’m warning you. That girl is rude. She’s vicious and she’s unkind and she’s always in detention or late or… _fucking up_ someone else’s day. Not to mention she never comes to gym class. The only good thing she has going for herself is that she can sing but she just embarrasses our music teacher by not turning up to concerts. I’d suggest you cut ties with her.”

“Aubrey, come on, can’t you let me decide who I want to be friends with?” Chloe frowned, grabbing Aubrey’s hand to lead them to one side of the hallway and talk properly. “I don’t know why you hate her so much, but she was really normal to me and really funny with Stacie.”

“Yeah, she’s funny, alright.” Aubrey muttered. She leant in closer to the redhead. “I heard she got drunk at a party last year and kissed a girl.”

Chloe shrugged. “So? It was probably spin the bottle.”

“Chloe-“

“Bree, look – on the way to school we literally sang and laughed and made faces at each other. It was like I was driving with someone I knew my whole life. I don’t know how to explain it properly, but I really like her, I think she’s cool! And she knows my favourite Hall and Oates song.”

“Chloe, she’s _weird_.”

“So am I!”

“Chloe.” Aubrey snapped, scowling. “I’m not going to repeat myself again. I’m telling you to stay away from her.”

Getting increasingly frustrated at her cousin for ruining her mood, Chloe pouted as she weighed up her options. Choosing to just make Aubrey happy, she huffed. “Fine, Bree, I’ll be careful. I don’t see what someone I only met yesterday can really do to hurt me, but whatever.”

“Good.” Aubrey smiled at her, a little forced. “Come on, we need to go to your locker.”

As luck would have it, they barely made it a few steps down the hall before Stacie and Beca rounded the corner opposite them.

“Hi!” Chloe said brightly and instinctively.

“Yo, Chloe, I hear you’re a traffic lane performer, pretty cool,” Stacie winked at her as they passed, and Beca nudged her in the side.

“Hey, Red,” Beca smiled, before her eyes flitted to the pissed off blonde standing next to her. “Posen, hi bestie!”

Aubrey rolled her eyes. “Bite me, boho.”

“Hey, now, aren’t we going to be civil this year, Posie?” Beca raised a brow, smirking as Stacie stifled a laugh.

“See you in Chem, Aubrey,” Stacie said in amusement as her and Beca walked off down the corridor.

“Jeez. That tension made me wanna blitz.” Chloe eyed her cousin as they turned the corner, watching as Aubrey gritted her teeth and gripped her bag.

“Stupid hobbit.” She grunted. “You see why I hate her so much?”

Chloe made a high-pitched, uncertain noise. “You weren’t so nice to her either, Bree. You called her a boho,”

“For good reason, Chloe. Let’s go.”

Unable to see her cousin as being anything other than overly harsh and protective, Chloe huffed exasperatedly, following Aubrey to their lockers.

“Change of subject. Do you wanna see who I chose for the pyramid?” Aubrey grinned, already picking up a paper folder and taking a laminated sheet from it.

“Only if I’m not on the bottom,” Chloe retorted, making Aubrey scoff.

“Please. I would’ve made you vice-captain if Coach wouldn’t have thought I had too much favouritism. This pyramid pains me a little bit. The standards weren’t nearly as high as last year. See for yourself,”

As they spoke, Chloe was reminded that Aubrey was fun so long as she wasn’t being over-bearing. The redhead couldn’t imagine that others thought the same. They spoke until first period – Aubrey even shocked her expressing genuine interest for seeing the new movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off that was coming to cinemas in a few weeks, and they made plans to watch it together. Chloe half-suspected that Bree had felt bad for arguing with her earlier, because when Chloe first moved here earlier that summer she had been talking a lot about a poster she’d seen for the movie. She had to push thoughts of movies and Jennifer Grey right back out of her mind, though, because she had English first period and that required a whole lot of attention.

Unfortunately for her, it took a little longer than it should have for Chloe to find the English corridor and a senior pointing her in the wrong direction before she was finally able to walk into class five minutes late.

“Ah, you must be Chloe,” Miss Berry said, putting her chalk down against the blackboard and walking over to the door to lead her in.

“Hi, I’m sorry I’m late, I got lost.” Chloe smiled shyly, though it turned into more of a grimace at the course of chuckles that erupted around the room. She blushed.

“Don’t worry, it’s a big school. It took me twenty minutes just to find the entrance!” Miss Berry joked “Go and find a seat, Chloe, and your classmates can catch you up,”

The classroom was set up in long desks of two, and the redhead’s stomach did a funny little flop. As eager as she was to make friends, being known as the confused new girl wasn’t exactly her favourite to conversation starter. Chloe looked around before her gaze settled on the last empty space at the back of the classroom, and the smirking brunette seated alone on the table. Chloe grinned – her luck was looking up already.

All remnants of Aubrey’s warnings had evaded her as she sat and turned to look at her friend. “Beca,”

“Red,” Beca smiled, but kept her eyes focused on Miss Berry.

“Are you gonna be in-“

“Shh, I’m learning.” Beca hushed her.

Raising her brows, Chloe reached into her backpack and pulled out a notepad and ballpoint. She pushed it in between them.

_What did I miss?_

**Introduction to Gothic literature, we’re studying Wuthering Heights and Dracula this semester**

_Cool_

_I thought WH was romance_

**Gothic romance – Dracula has a lot of romance too at times**

_I’ve never read either of them_

_Can I copy your notes?_

**I didn’t take any**

**I’ve read them both before**

_I didn’t peg Hall n Oates singer to be an avid reader too_

**It’s a hobby, living up to my expectations**

_?_

**Dad’s an English teacher**

_Cool! I bet you’re good at essays too_

**Ehh**

_Bree made it seem like you don’t care much about school_

**You asked Aubrey about me?**

_Not exactly_

**We aren’t the best of friends, I wouldn’t expect her to have anything nice to say**

_She didn’t really…but I also didn’t listen to her! I think you’re awesome_

**Ditto red**

_No one’s ever called me red before. Except for in kindergarten. I had a red coat. Little red._

**That’s cute**

_Do you live near me if we took the same route to school?_

**That depends where you live dude**

_We moved into the empty place that was round the corner from the diner_

**Wait do you know why they had construction there yesterday?**

**I live near there, like a few roads away**

_I think they’re just replacing the sign_

“Taking notes together to save paper, that’s a clever idea, girls,”

Beca and Chloe jumped, swivelling round to see Miss Berry peering over their shoulders with a wry smile.

“I’m sure there’ll be plenty of time to get to know each other outside of my classroom.” She said, pointedly but with little frustration, chuckling as the girls muttered their apologies.

For the rest of the class, Beca more or less watched as Chloe took her own notes. She had nothing else better to do, already knowing the synopses of their comparative literature, and she’d be lying if she said she didn’t find watching Chloe fascinating. Entertaining, even. The ginger was entirely focused, holding her tongue between her lips as she wrote, her baby blues growing big at new information. Each time she caught Chloe’s eyes she either smirked or blushed, and there was no in-between. It was useless attempting to avoid them; they were enchanting. Not that she’d admit that to anyone, of course. But they were. In fact, everything was enchanting about Chloe – she certainly wouldn’t have sung across the road for anyone else. Beca didn’t get the chance to mention their journey to school that lesson, as Chloe clearly meant to impress on her first day and Beca didn’t want to jeopardise that or her learning just because she knew what was being taught already.

As they were packing up, Chloe took out her timetable and showed it to Beca. “Do you have Geography next?”

“Nope, I’ve got History,” Beca made a half apologetic face.

“Ugh, lame.” Chloe sighed. “Where is Geography?”

“Literally round the corner, it’s impossible to get lost on the way there,” Beca laughed. Finally remembering her mental note, she took another peek at the timetable. “I have French last period too, though. And we both have art, theatre and music tomorrow,”

“Oh my god, yay!” Chloe bubbled. “We have all the best classes together,”

Beca narrowed her eyes at her. “I wouldn’t call French one of the best classes, but whatever you say, Red,” she slung her backpack over her shoulder. “Au revoir,”

“Bye, Beca,” Chloe giggled.

History went by quickly – there was little space for Beca’s mind to wander when faces with the facts of the economic crises of the Mid-Tudor period. Hell, there wasn’t even much space for the facts themselves, but Beca was pretty good at memorising and wasn’t phased by their teacher giving them a pop quiz at the end of the lesson. Their lunch was early today, and Beca had her free period beforehand, which she spent in the spare music room, reading and brainstorming lyrics. She got to lunch in good time, getting her tray before the jocks came by and pushed her aside, or worse squashed her up against the counters. Stacie came in only a few minutes later, and Beca followed her around as she took her food and moved to find them a table.

“Dude, I seriously wasn’t gonna talk about this again or even think that much about her because you know I wanna, like, actually focus a bit this year, but she’s in my English class. And she’ll probably be in one of my classes this afternoon too. I didn’t ask but like-“

“Oh my god,” Stacie rolled her eyes, yanking Beca down to the table. “Okay, this is the most excited I’ve seen you in like a month. I think it’s safe to say that you’re in love now,”

Beca glared. “No. I don’t know, it’s weird, we get along really well and I literally only met her yesterday. The only person I’ve ever gotten along with is you.”

“Only cause we’ve always known each other. You think we’d be friends if our parents weren’t??”

“Shut up, that’s not the point I was making.”

“I think we would be. I bet we would’ve met in homeroom and you would’ve fallen in love with me,”

Beca scoffed. “You’re way off, Conrad,”

“There was that one time…”

“Fuck off, we kissed for a dare,”

“Best kiss of my life,” Stacie winked.

“You fucking threw up afterwards.”

“Uh, yeah, cause Aubrey’s mom can’t fucking cook and poisoned me!” Stacie grumbled, pushing the food around on her tray. “I can’t believe we used to be friends with Posen,”

Beca made a retching noise. “You know I’ve blocked that out of my memory.”

“Mhm, sure…so you were telling me about how obsessed you are with Posen’s cousin?” Stacie moved her chin into her palm, looking across the table at her best friend with wide blinking eyes.

“Right, I- she’s unavoidable, you know? If I can’t avoid her, how am I supposed to not talk to her? She lives near me, she works at the diner, she actually seems pretty cool and she said she’s not listening to stuff Aubrey says about us. You know when you just _connect_ with someone? And I think I sort of impressed her when I told her I’d read Wuthering Heights and Dracula already, and-”

“Beca.” Stacie said calmly. “You know you need oxygen to speak, right?” she laughed as Beca clamped her mouth shut and glared. “Look, I think it’s pretty cool that you actually found someone other than me to talk to, it’ll make my days a lot easier. And Chloe does seem really cool. Just don’t forget that she’s related to Aubrey. Not only is that the most complicated relationship you could get into, but it’d also make spending holidays with Chloe really fucking difficult for you, and-“

“Dude!” Beca exclaimed piercingly. “It’s not like she’s a lesbian, is it? Shut up.”

“What? It’s obvious you’re gonna be in love with her by the end of the week.”

Beca huffed. “Being friends with Chloe will definitely be a good thing. I won’t have to put up with your warped crap all the time.”

In their role call that afternoon, Miss Berry came up to Beca and Stacie after taking down everyone’s names and sending someone to the office with the register.

“Beca,” she said lightly. “I know you probably know a lot of what we’re learning this semester, but please remember that Chloe is coming from a different state and I’m sure she needs to pay a lot of attention to come to terms with the difference in learning,”

“Yeah, I know, sorry. It won’t happen again, teach.”

In French, Beca and Chloe sat together and once again, Chloe placed her notebook between them.

_Bonjour_

**Bonjour. Ca va?**

_Oui, ca va, bien que la pizza au déjeuner était assez discutable, je suis toute excitée d’aller au restaurant plus tard et de manger de la nourriture appropriée_

**Geez, they don’t teach us that in class**

_I’m kinda fluent in French…I said ‘although the pizza at lunch was pretty questionable so I’m excited to get to the diner later and eat some proper food’_

**Kinda fluent?**

_Ok I’m fluent. I lived in France for 2 years when I was a kid_

**That’s so cool oh my god where else have you lived?**

_Italy, London, Spain, Florida, LA and Mississippi_

**Damn so are you even gonna be in Atlanta for long?**

_Yeah I think my parents want me to stay until graduation and if they have to move I’ll stay with Bree_

**Oh cool**

**Moving around that much is lucky though like I’ve never even been to Europe**

_It’s fun but also kinda lonely :-( calling Bree and writing letters with her meant she was like the only constant friend I had_

**Not so lucky**

**I know some German because my mother’s side is German but I’m definitely not fluent**

_No kidding! I wanna learn german, I wanted to take that class but it was full when I tried to_

**Well Red we need to trade languages…**

_Seems like it :-D_

**Okay shh as much as I enjoy our notetaking time together I at least need to pass this class**

It was Chloe’s turn to smile and watch Beca this time. She knew she had nothing to learn doing French, and she was hoping to be able to change next semester. She didn’t have any homework to do like she usually would in a class she wasn’t interested in but watching was just as fun. Whenever Beca would get frustrated with the language she huffed or muttered under her breath, glared at the blackboard until she understood (or until Chloe pointed something out to her). Whilst Chloe knew some would think Beca scary, she just thought her to be pretty adorable, and certainly not vicious like Aubrey had said. Whenever she mispronounced a word she blushed, and the way she continuously checked the textbook in their writing exercise truly showed just how much she cared about doing well. Chloe couldn’t help but find that endearing.

Beca was on Chloe’s mind for the rest of the day – she wondered what her and Stacie talk about, what Beca’s interests were, how she felt about certain foods or how she felt about change. Chloe had never truly gotten the chance to think so intensely about a new friend before, but for once she knew she had time to truly get to know Beca, and the ease of their conversation only highlighted how they were meant to be close. They were hitting it off in a way Chloe hadn’t with anyone before, not even her ex-boyfriend back in Florida. Hitting it off in a friendly way, though, duh. Chloe assumed that this just must be how it feels to quickly become friends with someone. Unbeknownst to Chloe as she eventually pried her eyes away from the little brunette to do the writing task, Beca looked up and caught sight of Stacie standing at the door. The sat in a place in the classroom where only their table could truly see outside the little window in the door, and Stacie was tall enough to lean into it and catch Beca’s eye. Beca frowned at her warningly, knowing the leggy brunette had a free period. Stacie drew a heart with her finger against the window and made kissy faces at her, then pointed to Chloe and made a face that was clearly intended to seem similar to a climaxing pleasure. Beca reddened entirely and scowled further, discreetly putting up her middle finger at her friend as she leant her chin against her palm. Stacie clearly silently cackled and blew another kiss before walking off.

“You okay?”

The breath hitched in Beca’s throat at the sound of Chloe’s voice, and she whipped round to look at her and gave a jerking nod. “Mhm!”

“You’ve gone all red,” Chloe giggled quietly.

Beca shrugged and gave a pointless chuckle. “It’s hot in here,”

As Beca and Chloe were leaving French at the end of the day, there was a crowd loitering towards the notice boards. Beca noticed Daisy rushing away from the crowd in tears.

“Oh, Bree must’ve posted the cheer squad!” Chloe squealed.

“Oh, shit, so soon? Wait, where’s Stace-“ Beca looked around, though she couldn’t see much more than shoulders in her general line of vision. She huffed and started to push through the crowd, eventually finding herself in front of the noticeboard and standing next to her best friend.

“Holy shit!” Beca exclaimed loudly, breaking out into a wide grin as she read _Stacie Conrad_ to the left underneath Aubrey’s name. Aubrey was on the top of the pyramid.

“Stace! You finally put the legs to good use, oh my god, _look_ at my little girl, all grown up and at the top of the fucking pyramid! _Fuck yeah, Stacie!”_

Stacie groaned loudly, and a few people laughed at Beca’s exclamations.

“You are so fucking annoying, this isn’t a big deal, airhead.” Stacie laughed.

“Stacie, baby, bubby, sweetheart!” Beca said, grabbing onto her shoulders and looking up to her. “You strong bitch! Let’s go celebrate!!” she turned Stacie and jumped on her back before the other brunette could protest, and Stacie laughed louder.

Chloe watched as the two bounded off down the corridor, oblivious to anything other than their own antics. She loved how close they seemed, and almost couldn’t wait to get to work so she could talk more with her new friends (she also definitely wanted to see what a celebratory Beca looked like).

Yeah. She loved Barden already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry I haven't updated this in so long! I've been super busy with uni applications and going through the Oxford application process...but alas, I fully intend on continuing this and a few other fics too! I'll have a little more time now to write and I'm super excited to continue this fic. Please let me know what you think :)


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